Officers Assaulted

The following information concerns duly sworn city, university and college, county, state, and tribal law enforcement officers who were assaulted in the line of duty in 2008 and met certain other criteria.

Overview

In 2008, a total of 10,110 law enforcement agencies submitted assault data to the FBI. These agencies employed 518,120 officers who served more than 226 million people, representing nearly 75 percent of the Nation’s population. (Based on Table 65.)

Law enforcement agencies reported that 58,792 officers were assaulted in the line of duty.

The rate of these offenses was 11.3 officer assaults per 100 sworn officers in 2008.

More information about these topics is provided in Tables 65, 66, 70, and 71.

Injuries

Of all the officers assaulted, 26.1 percent sustained injuries.

Among officers who were assaulted with personal weapons (e.g., hands, fists, or feet), 27.8 percent were injured.

Of those attacked with knives or other cutting instruments, 13.4 percent suffered injuries.

Of the officers who were assaulted with firearms, 8.4 percent were injured.

Among officers who were assaulted with other dangerous weapons, 22.6 percent sustained injuries.

More information about this topic is provided in Tables 65, 66, and 70.

Times of incidents

For the tenth consecutive year, 12:01 to 2 a.m. was the time frame in which most officer assaults occurred, accounting for 15.5 percent of all officer assaults.

The time frame in which the fewest officer assaults happened was 6:01 to 8 a.m., accounting for 2.4 percent of those incidents.

Circumstances

In 2008, the largest percentage of officers assaulted (32.0 percent) were responding to disturbance calls (family quarrels, bar fights, etc.).

The second-highest percentage of officers assaulted (15.1 percent) were attempting other arrests.

The third-highest percentage of officers assaulted (11.8 percent) were handling, transporting, or maintaining custody of prisoners.

More information about this topic is provided in Tables 68, 69, and 73.

Clearances

Law enforcement agencies can clear offenses by arrests or exceptional means (i.e., when law enforcement can identify the perpetrator but are unable to make an arrest due to circumstances beyond their control, such as the death or suicide of the subject).

Of the 58,792 reported assaults on law enforcement officers in 2008, law enforcement agencies cleared 88.5 percent.